Page 4 of North (The Moral Compass 2)

The thought of him makes me drink even more and, before I know it, the dance tunes are playing, and we are on the table dancing like absolute loons.

Two burly door attendants come over and ask us, “Can you ladies get down please? It’s not very safe up there.”

After trying to get them to join us, Sherie gets down and holds out her hand to help me. All would have been okay if the floor beneath my feet wasn’t swimming in spilled drinks.

I slip, slide, and end up on my arse, legs askew and flashing to all and sundry.

“Fuck, get me up!” I shout. Sherie doubles over and four big arms grab my shoulders. Before I can say stop the bus, I’m out on the street and slamming straight into a ridiculously hard chest that belongs to a very tall policeman.

“I’m so, so sorryociffers. The bad bouncer men threw me through the doors. That’s why I bashed into you.” I could even hear how pissed I was. Sherie, on the other hand, had gone into fight or flight mode, or rather, both. With one swift move, she jumped up, grabbed the other police officer’s hat, and ran off down the street.

“Oh shit! No, Sherie, please come back!” I screamed.

The other officer took off in pursuit, but it didn’t take him long to apprehend the culprit. I stood watching as he talked to her and gave her what looked like a bollocking.

“So, can I take your name and address?” the genuinely nice police officer asks.

Hmm, am I in luck here? I think I just might be. The questioning went on. Where had we been? Where were we going next? Was there anyone else in our group less inebriated than the two of us? Then, I noticed he was writing it all down in his little book.

Shit, he’s not flirting, he’s fucking questioning me.I start to laugh at my own stupidity.

“What’s so funny, Miss?” he asks.

“I thought you were flirting with me. I thought I might have pulled you.” I continue to laugh. “Until I saw you writing in your teeny tiny notebook.”

I do a little dance and squish my fingers together on the teeny tiny bit. Thinking I’ve pissed him off now, I offer my hands. “If you’re going to arrest me, please do it now, and don’t put the handcuffs on too tight or they mark my wrists. Unless you have the fluffy ones.” I am trying to speak slowly so I sound sober, but it doesn’t matter because the actual shit coming out of my mouth is telling a different story.

“So, if I were flirting with you, would you consider a date with me? Obviously not tonight, for a couple of reasons.” He has a nice smile and kind eyes, and he is tall.Reallytall. Short blond hair completes the look, and he looks like he’d have a great body underneath all that uniform.

“Well, I might if I knew what those couple of reasons were first,” I sing-song back to him, swinging my hips like a stripper. I was never good at flirting. Sherie was always the best, and I used to get dates because of her mostly.

“Well, first, Kara, you are wasted and second, I’m on duty till 4:00 a.m.” He smiles again.

“Ah, okay, yes, you’re very right about both of them things. Yes, I’ll go on a date with you, but I think I need to go home now. I’m not feeling very well. I can feel the prosecco having an effect, and if I don’t move soon, I’m going to throw up all over your—”

Oh, shit. Too late.

A few minutes later, both Sherie and I are bundled in the back of the police car. How the fuck am I going to explain this to North? He’s going to think all sorts of things if I don’t come home.

“Excuse me, officers?” I try to pronounce it properly this time.

“Yep?” the grumpy one answers.

“Am I okay to make a call? I need to let my brother know I won’t be home.”

“Why won’t you be home?” the nice fit policeman questions.

“Are we not arrested and going to the cells? I am terribly sorry for the mess I made on your shoes and trousers, but it was an accident. I am really, really sorry.”

They both laugh and then Grumpy says, “We are taking you to your address. All is not lost. This means once we’ve dropped you off, we can go back to the station and take a break whilst we get dressed. That’s a win-win in my book.”

I punch in the code at the security gates, and the police car takes us to the door. I’m just trying to get my key in when the door flies open. North stands there with a furious look on his face.

“What in the name of fuck happened?” He’s not even looking at me but talking directly to the police officers. That’s good because the car ride home has unsettled the prosecco again. I smash my hand over my mouth and run for the bathroom, flinging one shoe off at a time.

I must have fallen asleep in the bathroom hugging the porcelain god.

“Kara, Kara, come on now, sweetheart. I need to get you into bed,” a deep, sexy voice says. Then, I’m flying in the air. I feel my body being pulled about a bit, but I’m too tired and drunk to be bothered.

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